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TEXAS GOVERNOR-ELECT MAKES IT CLEAR ON RKBA

Texas Governor-elect Greg Abbott wasted no time in making it clear how he feels about the right to keep and bear arms when he affirmed that he would support and sign leg­islation legalizing the open carry of firearms by law-abiding gun owners following his landslide victory.

The incoming governor, who replaces pro-gunner Rick Perry, noted at a news conference that if open carry is “good enough for Massachusetts, it’s good enough for the state of Texas.”

The declaration may have ignited some political disagreement about who should be allowed to carry a sidearm openly, everyone or just those who have a license to carry concealed. But in an Amarillo Globe- News story quoting C.J. Grisham, president of Open Carry Texas, he expressed confidence that in 2015, Texas will allow the legal open carry of handguns.

When it comes to understanding Texas law, perhaps nobody who has been in the governor’s office has a better feel for it than Abbot. He has served as a justice on the Texas State Supreme Court and also as the state’s attorney general.

Cementing Abbott’s reputation as a defender of gun rights, no sooner had he promised to sign an open carry bill than did the anti-gun Moms Demand Action lobbying organization have a fit. The Michael Bloomberg-backed gun prohibition group has promised to fight open carry in Texas, but they may find that a difficult battle to win.

Abbott is no stranger to the pro-gun spotlight. In 2013, as recalled by Newsmax, he purchased advertising in New York newspapers to encourage Empire State gun owners to move to the Lone Star State. He promised them “lower taxes and greater opportunity.”

The incoming Republican has earned a reputation for something other than gun rights. He has sued the Obama administration repeatedly. Most recently, Abbott has targeted the president’s executive action on illegal immigration, suggesting that the new First Texan thinks there’s something illegal about the Obama plan. He has a lot of company, as many critics have asserted that the president may not have the constitutional authority to take such an action. Texas is a state that stands to be greatly impacted by the president’s policy.

If Obama can make this kind of decision about illegal immigration, what’s to stop him from making executive decisions about Second Amendment rights?

Perhaps it will be Greg Abbott.

Abbott is the rare governor who uses a wheelchair, but that obvi­ously doesn’t interfere with his thinking about gun rights. Disabled in a 1984 accident when a tree fell on him following a storm, the new governor has earned his reputation as a staunch gun rights supporter, and the next four years will likely be pretty much the same as the previous eight where gun control extremists are concerned.

His promise to sign an open carry bill if it lands on his desk is a pretty strong indication that anti-gunners will have their hands full trying to gain any traction with his adminis­tration.